Monthly Archives: April 2014

Not all kpop styles are for everyone. Sometimes there may be styles you just don’t like, even if you try.

Even if you have an open mind and a wide taste in music, not all kpop styles will work for you, you may need to listen around a bit before realising where your interest lies.

But we’ve put together a quick list of songs that could help you find what kpop styles you like and dislike:

Gangnam style – Psy

(If you haven’t heard this at least once, you may want to check the news to see if there’s been any other phenomena in the last couple years you’ve missed. )

This track, realeased on July 15th 2012, was so popular that on December 21st 2012 – the day the Mayan calendar expired and the supposed date of the apocalypse – the music video reached 1 billion views on YouTube and became it’s most played video ever. (And, while this song was such a huge hit internationally, the song was not actually that popular in Korea!!)

Personally, I don’t think this song is a fantastic introduction to kpop as it blurs the boundaries between the bizarre, comical and real-world in a way that a lot of people find too much. People’s problems with the video can range from the strange meaning of the lyrics (trust me, by kpop standards, I don’t see the weirdness), the sexualisation and the plain weirdness of it all. But still, I think it’s a fun song to listen to and teaches you a very important word in the world of Korean entertainment – Oppa!

Fantastic Baby – BIGBANG

This song was my first real introduction to the world of kpop. My sister was a fan of kpop before me and one day showed me this video:

This song embodies the slightly crazy but meaningful and undeniably awesome world that is kpop and Bigbang. I’ll be honest, when I first saw this my thoughts were ‘What the hell did I just watch?’, ‘Why’ve they all got crazy hair?’, ‘Why’s the little one surrounded by kitty women?’, ‘Who’s the blue-haired guy?’, ‘Can I get blue-guy’s number?’, ‘Are those tattoos real?!’, ‘Wow, blue eyebrows too!’ and so on. And I also thought that G-Dragon was four different people. It’s a crazy video but it’s really interesting, so catchy and I was really impressed that each of the members designed their own segments for the video!

Spy – Super Junior

With a very recognizably smooth and sexy style, with a James Bond style and Michael Jackson-esque choreography, Spy is a very easy song to love

With style, cool dances and catchy songs, Super Junior are a very good group to begin with.

One of a Kind – G Dragon

This is a very cool song with a taste of G-Dragon’s hiphop routes. It’s a fantastic song with awesome dances (that verge of hilarious) that has a lot of fun and character in it. It’s a fun and fast song and the music video is timed to really fit with the song!

Crooked – G Dragon

This one is a big contrast to the wild and fun songs like One of a Kind. Crooked shows the more deep and emotional side of G-Dragon and lets us in on some of the pain and difficulty of the artist’s life. It’s a sad song, but it doesn’t lack in energy or appeal to the pop audiences.

Very Good- Block B

This song is nothing short of bizarre. The wacky costumes and styles of the members really fit the high energy and hiphop genre of the song. Every member has their own identity within the group and all only add to the awesomeness of their songs. (and, if you liked that, check out their new song Jackpot: )

And we’ll be back with more ‘Find Your Style’ pieces to help you figure out

What did you think of the songs? Were there any you particularly loved or hated or do you have any recommendations for songs to add to the list? Please share in the comments! xx

Okay, the big 3 is something I discovered a few months after getting into Kpop. In the beginning it was all about discovering new groups and songs and just sitting happily by and enjoying them. Then I started getting people asking me “So which of the 3 are you?” and I had no idea what they meant. After asking further, they clarified “Are you a YG, SM or JYPE?”

This didn’t help at all.

I’d heard of the YG family but none of those random accronyms meant a thing to me. I did my homework and realised that there was more to kpop than I thought.

There are many entertainment companies in Korea, but “The Big 3” referrs to the three top companies in Korea and they are the main ones you should know about. They are:

JYPE

JYP Entertainment was founded by Park Jin-Young (Hangul: 박진영) in 1997. JYPE also made idol hunk Rain famous, who worked under the company from his debut in 2002 until 2007. Their groups include 2PM, 2AM, Wonder Girls, JJ Project and Miss A. The company’s owner and namesake is also an artist as well, well known for his songs “Don’t leave me”, “Honey” and “Your house”

SM Media

SM Media is one of the largest of the three companies with their incredibly popular groups like Super Junior, Girl’s Generation, Shinee and, biggest of all, EXO. SME first started producing artists in the mid 90s with its first artists, the boy group H.O.T and girl group S.E.S, who were very popular until they disbanded in 2001 and 2002. SM Entertainment has had a number of controversies and legal disputes over the years, which we’ll cover another time!

YG Entertainment

YG entertainment was founded in 1996 by Yang Hyun Suk (Hangul : 앙현석), a former member of the 90s group Seo Taiji & boys. Known as Papa YG by fans, he’s the head of the company with huge traction in the entertainment business, both in Asia and internationally. YG’s artists include BIGBANG (whose members all have successful solo careers), 2ne1, Se7en, new rookie group Winner and, the internet sensation with the most Youtube hits ever, Psy. YG is a very cooperative company, with the different groups and artists regularly collaborating with each other.

Before the first posts go up on the site I just want to say a quick thank you to you reading this.

Thank you!

Whether you are here reading this from the first days of the website or are looking back through old posts from some time in the future, thank you for reading. This site is a labour of love and, my goodness, it has taken a while.

With planning, designing, coming up with content ideas, drafting logos and all the other task that have lead up to this, this venture has meant a lot of late nights and early mornings (and a lot of coffee and sake). Truly, it is all worth it to be able to share with you.

So, after the work and planning that has gone into creating this, thank you for the support!